Strain and factor selection for carbon dioxide fixation using microalgae cultivated in oil sands process water

Abstract

Biological fixation of CO 2 using microalgae is a potential CO 2 reduction strategy which can be applied to the oil sands operations in Alberta. These operations also produce large amounts of oil sands process water (OSPW), which can act as a growth medium for the microalgae. In this study, three different microalgae: Botryococcus braunii, Chlorella pyrenoidosa and Chlorella kessleri were investigated for their ability to grow in OSPW, and to uptake CO 2 . Also, the effect of phosphate, nitrate, CO 2 concentrations and light intensity were studied using a fractional two-level and a full two-level factorial design. These investigations eliminated Botryococcus braunii as it cannot grow in OSPW, and demonstrated that Chlorella kessleri has a higher CO 2 uptake rate than Chlorella pyrenoidosa. Moreover, CO 2 concentration, light intensity and phosphate concentration proved to have the strongest effects (in that order) on the growth and CO 2 uptake rate of Chlorella kessleri.

Overview of Existing Science to Inform Oil Sands Process Water Release: A Technical Workshop Summary

“…In addition to focused laboratory work on mammals, an extensive amount of work has been conducted on aquatic organisms in single‐organism tests, in microcosms, and with specific molecular biomarkers (Anderson et al 2011; Gagné et al ; He et al ; Hagen et al ; Sansom et al ; Scarlett et al ; Toor et al ; Wiseman, Anderson et al ; Wiseman, He et al ; Arens et al ; Chen et al ; Islam et al ; Kasiri et al ; Mohseni et al 2015; Zhang et al ). The application of whole effluent regulatory testing in concert with detailed chemical analyses supports characterization of OSPW risks to aquatic ecosystems relative to approved effluent discharges from other regulated industries (Kilgour et al ).…”

“…In addition to focused laboratory work on mammals, an extensive amount of work has been conducted on aquatic organisms in single-organism tests, in microcosms, and with specific molecular biomarkers (Anderson et al 2011;Gagné et al 2012;He et al 2012;Hagen et al 2013;Sansom et al 2013;Scarlett et al 2013;Toor et al 2013;Wiseman, Anderson et al 2013;Wiseman, He et al 2013;Arens et al 2015;Chen et al 2015;Islam et al 2015;Kasiri et al 2015;Mohseni et al 2015;Zhang et al 2016). The application of whole effluent regulatory testing in concert with detailed Integr Environ Assess Manag 2019:519-527 © 2019 SETAC wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ieam Standardized approach for chemical characterization of OSPW (inorganic and organic protocols) Gap…”

Synthesis of diethyl carbonate from ethanol through different routes: A thermodynamic and comparative analysis

“…[5,6] DEC synthesis also serves the purpose of sequestration of CO 2 on which many efforts have been already reported. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] A comparison on essential properties of all three compounds along with diesel is shown in Table 1.…”

“…These include ethanolysis of urea (Equation (1)), carbonylation of ethanol using CO 2 (Equation (2)), trans-esterification of ethanol with ethylene carbonate (EC) (Equation (3)), and DMC (Equation (4)). [11][12][13][14][15] All these methods are being researched by different researchers. The present manuscript's authors have comprehensively reviewed all these methods.…”

“…It is also extensively used in lithium ion batteries as a solvent . DEC synthesis also serves the purpose of sequestration of CO 2 on which many efforts have been already reported . A comparison on essential properties of all three compounds along with diesel is shown in Table .…”